Source: FN
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen advised Singaporean Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong that as one of the ASEAN leaders, he should caress the relationship between the government and the government as well as the people and the people of the ASEAN member states.
“We should caress the relations between governments and governments and people-to-people ties among ASEAN nations,” government spokesman Phay Siphan quoted the premier’s statement at the cabinet meeting this Friday morning, June 7.
The premier’s reaction was made following the statement of Singaporean Prime Minister, accusing Vietnam of invading Cambodia during the civil war.
H.E. Lee Hsien Loong, Prime Minister of Singapore, on 31 May expressing his condolences on the passing of General Prem Tinsulanonda in which he said “His [General Prem] time as PM coincided with the ASEAN members (then five of us) coming together to oppose Vietnam’s invasion of Cambodia and the Cambodian government that replaced the Khmer Rouge…”
Lee’s statement reflects Singapore’s position then in support of the genocidal regime and the wish for its return to Cambodia. Singapore was the host of the tripartite meeting that led to the formation of the coalition government of the Democratic Kampuchea, which had prolonged the war and the suffering of Cambodian people for another 10 years.
“Lee Hsien Loong’s statement is an act against the survival of the Cambodian people. It is an insult to the sacrifice of the Vietnamese military volunteers who helped to liberate Cambodia from the genocidal regime,” Strongman Hun Sen stated.
“His statement reveals to the Singaporean people and the world that leader of Singapore had indeed contributed to the massacre of Cambodian people,” he added.